Can rights cure? At a time when South Africa’s ailing and dysfunctional health system is on the verge of radical transformation through the mooted introduction of a National Health Insurance scheme, and when there are increasing political tensions between government and the courts, this book reflects upon the South African experience of judicially enforcing health-related constitutional rights. It attempts to understand the ways in which rights-based litigation has impacted on the operation and transformation of different features of the health system, including the formulation and implementation of health laws and policies, processes of health resource allocation and rationing, the regulation of health care delivery in the private sector, and the promotion and protection of public health.

Health rights litigation is still an emerging phenomenon in Africa, despite the constitutions of many African countries having provisions to advance the right to health. Litigation can provide a powerful tool not only to hold governments accountable for failure to realise the right to health, but also to empower the people to seek redress for the violation of this essential right. With contributions from activists and scholars across Africa, the collection includes a diverse range of case studies throughout the region, demonstrating that even in jurisdictions where the right to health has not been explicitly guaranteed, attempts have been made to litigate on this right. The collection focusses on understanding the legal framework for the recognition of the right to health, the challenges people encounter in litigating health rights issues and prospects of litigating future health rights cases in Africa. The book also takes a comparative approach to litigating the right to health before regional human rights bodies. This book will be valuable reading to scholars, researchers, policymakers, activists and students interested in the right to health.

This title is a must have for anyone in the health sector as it highlights the key issues that constitute and affect health law in post apartheid South Africa.

"African civil law countries are traditionally described as monist and common law countries as dualist. This book illustrates that the monism-dualism dichotomy is too simplistic, in particular in the field of human rights. Academics and practitioners from across the continent illustrate how domestic courts in Africa have engaged with international human rights law to interpret or fill gaps in national bills of rights. The authors also consider the challenges encountered in increasing the use of international human rights law by African domestic courts."--Back cover.

With contributions from activists and scholars across Africa, this study focusses on understanding the legal framework in Africa for the recognition of the right to health, the challenges people encounter in such litigation and prospects for litigating future health rights cases. Diverse case studies also demonstrate that even in jurisdictions where the right to health has not been explicitly guaranteed, attempts have been made to litigate on this right. The book also takes a comparative approach to litigating the right to health before regional human rights bodies.

The book provides useful information about international human rights norms and their relevance to South Africa. Considering the interplay between international and domestic human rights standards, it explains and explores how the South African Constitution protects human rights.

Rights-based Litigation, Urban Governance and Social Justice in South Africa considers the overlap between legal and everyday struggles for social and spatial justice in the particular context of Johannesburg, South Africa. Drawing from literature across disciplines of law, urban geography and urban planning, as well as from reported case-law concerning the invocation of constitutional rights in Johannesburg and other South African cities, the book critically examines whether, and to what extent, the invocation of legal rights before South African courts have contributed to the advancement of social justice in the city. It considers the impact of the legal assertion of different constituent aspects of the so-called "right to the city" on the many people simultaneously performing the right, the governance structures responsible for enabling and facilitating its enjoyment and, thirdly, the physical place in which it is performed. Drawing broad conclusions on the utility of rights-based litigation for the achievement of social change and spatial justice, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of South Africa, constitutional law, human rights law, regulatory law, sociology of rights, studies of law and society, urban studies, urban geography, governance studies, and development studies.

Evaluates the successes and failures of the 1996 South African Constitution following the twentieth anniversary of its enactment.

About the publication The African Disability Rights Yearbook addresses disability rights within the foundational structure laid down by the inaugural issue. The structure comprises a tripartite division between: articles; country reports; and shorter commentaries on recent regional and sub-regional developments. The African Disability Rights Yearbook aims to advance disability scholarship. Coming in the wake of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it is the first peer-reviewed journal to focus exclusively on disability as human rights on the African continent. It provides an annual forum for scholarly analysis on issues pertaining to the human rights of persons with disabilities. It is also a source for country-based reports as well as commentaries on recent developments in the field of disability rights in the African region. The African Disability Rights Yearbook publishes peer-reviewed contributions dealing with the rights of persons with disabilities and related topics, with specific relevance to Africa, Africans and scholars of Africa. The Yearbook appears annually under the aegis of the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. The Yearbook is an open access online publication, see www.adry.up.ac.za About the editors: Charles Ngwena is Professor, Department of Constitutional Law and Legal Philosophy, Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, South Africa. Ilze Grobbelaar‐du Plessis is a senior lecturer and holds the degrees BIuris LLB LLM LLD from the University of Pretoria. Helene Combrinck is Associate Professor at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, University of the Western Cape. Serges Djoyou Kamgais is Senior Lecturer at TMALI (UNISA). Table of Contents SECTION A: ARTICLES The Basic Education Act of 2013 as a tool for advancing early childhood development and education for children with disabilities in Kenya Mirriam Nthenge ‘Access to justice of children with disabilities in defilement cases; a myth or reality?’ Bernadette Malunga, Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo & Ngcimezile Mbano-Mweso The socio-economic rights of children with disabilities in South Africa: A comparison between the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Zita Hansungule & Trynie Boezaart ‘De-stigmatising psychosocial disabilities in South Africa’ Faraaz Mahomed & Michael Ashley Stein Mental illness, stigma and disability rights in Ghana Magnus Mfoafo-M’Carthy & Jeff Grischow Albinism in Africa: A proposed conceptual framework to understand and effectively address a continental crisis’ Mark P Mostert & Martha M Weich The identity question versus appropriateness of legal anti-discrimination measures: Endorsing the disability rights approach to albinism Abdallah Possi & Ally Possi SECTION B: COUNTRY REPORTS Djibouti Djibril Ismail Cher Madagascar Isambilo Rabearison-Andrianjara SECTION C: REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS The right to the highest attainable standard of mental health in selected African countries: A commentary on how selected mental health laws fare against article 25 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Elizabeth Kamundia Disability rights developments in the East African Community post-2012 Damalie Naggita-Musoke BOOK REVIEW Elizabeth Barnes Minority body: A theory of disability Charles Ngwena

This book discusses fundamental discourses relating to health in Africa arising out of the consequences of endemic diseases in Africa. It identifies, explains and illustrates the contexts, challenges and efforts to combat these diseases. The book provides a unique comparative analysis of African contexts of health, thereby not ignoring the global contexts of health within which Africa exists. It follows a macro-analytic stance about health in Africa framed around significant/pressing issues. "Discourse of disease" is part of a profound sociological discourse of health in Africa, which provides a framework for students, academics and healthcare practitioners to understand the states of health and healthcare in Africa.